We have been gagged. That is the new way of doing things. It means that the government does not go only after the victims, but also after the members who represent the victims, as my colleague for Portneuf put it.
I am not pleased, but rather deeply saddened to rise today to speak on a bill which is so tough on the unemployed, on the jobless. Instead of tackling the problems and trying to find work for the people who live in the regions, the government is going after what little they have left.
What is this bill all about? As we say in French, and especially in my region of Gaspé, it is first and foremost a deficit insurance plan for the government, since it would save about $5 billion. It is not the jobless who will benefit from this, but the government. So, first and foremost, the reform proposed by the minister is a kind of insurance program for him, for his deficit, and not an employment insurance system, as he would have us believe.
I was regional critic for the Bloc Quebecois this last year, and I still am, unless changes are made, and the people in areas like the Gaspé Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands are being dealt a double blow by this bill, since the vast majority of the unemployed in these areas are seasonal unemployed. One of the first measures that will be applied by the government is the 1 per cent penalty for recurring unemployment. This means that each time an unemployed person in our regions receives UI benefits for a period of 20 weeks-20 weeks, not a year-that person is given a 1 per cent penalty applicable to his or her future benefits. That hurts.
Then, when you look at how the system works, we know the present rate of benefits is 55 per cent of the gross salary. This means that, once they have accumulated five periods of 20 weeks of UI benefits, these persons will no longer get 55 per cent of their gross salary, but 50 per cent. That hurts, and is discriminatory. It is not their fault if they work in an area that has to follow the seasons. But, nevertheless, they will get a 5 per cent penalty. That is one thing.
Also, benefits are calculated not only based on the number of hours, but also based on the number of qualifying weeks. First, the benefits will be divided by 14 and subsequently, in 1997 or 1998 I think, they will be divided by 16.
This means that if I manage to accumulate the required 420 hours in a period of 10 weeks, the total amount of benefits I am entitled to will be calculated and divided by 14, as if I had accumulated the required number of hours over a period of 14 weeks.
That is another reduction of the UI benefits to which these unemployed people would normally be entitled. What should we think of that?
But the funniest thing or should I say the saddest thing about this-and I am sure all the people from the Gaspé Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands who are listening to this will demand an explanation from their member opposite-from what I understand-and I hope someone will be able to give me an answer at some point-the 420 hour minimum requirement must be met within a period of 14 weeks. Let us take for example a worker in a lobster plant in our area of the Gaspé Peninsula, who works mainly in May and June.
Suppose this worker manages to accumulate only 400 hours over this work period. According to the rules, he or she must accumulate 20 hours more in order to become eligible.
If that worker is unlucky and cannot find work for his last 20 hours before fall, let us say September or October, what will happen between the end of his first job, in June, and the beginning of his new job, at the end of September? He will be out of work and will receive no benefits of any kind.
I have read the regulations and, from what I understand, the UI commission will calculate like this: let us suppose he worked 20 hours at-I will be generous-$20 an hour, that makes $200 during that period. When the number of hours of work reaches 420, the amount earned is averaged over the last 14 weeks. Since the worker in my example did not work in July and August, because he lives in area where work is seasonal, his earnings during his qualifying period would be $200 and it is that amount that would be divided by 14. What, then, would be the amount of his benefits? It would be $1.25 or something like that. This is unspeakable.
I hope that I am wrong and that my office will receive a fax telling me that I made a mistake. I just hope that we can at least make the minister and the deputy ministers who came up with this scheme understand that in areas like the Gaspé and the Islands, where people need unemployment benefits to make ends meet, they are very edgy about these changes to the program. People try very hard, but nature imposes its work schedules on humans.
Mr. Speaker, did you ever try to go strawberry picking or lobster fishing when there is three feet of ice? It is not easy. What can we do? Should we ask our viewers across Canada to give up strawberries and lobster forever, because people are no longer be able to stay in their region for lack of unemployment insurance benefits, and have to move and find other jobs? Is that the message?
I am afraid we will see some trades and occupations disappear because they are limited to some periods of the year. This is unthinkable unless, once again, the member for Gaspé is wrong.
Is the Minister of Human Resources Development keeping a bargaining chip up his sleeve? I have not yet seen what regulatory amendments the Governor in Council can make in the area of unemployment for fishermen and seasonal workers and I do not know if he can make some other changes. However, the core, the basis of this bill is a slap on the wrist right from the start.
I cannot believe how fast time is going by this afternoon. But in the main, I have made my point. Canadians and Quebecers must be wary. The minister is proposing a very fundamental change, and he is the first one to dip into the pot of this insurance which I call the deficit insurance. I ask the minister to protect the lives of those who live in the regions.